About

Harjas Grewal is an entrepreneur, strategist, and storyteller working at the intersection of climate, culture, and business.

She is the founder of Understory, a climate and cultural platform exploring environmental justice through storytelling, community, and systems change. Through Understory and her independent work, Harjas has built a global climate community of 10,000+ people and reached over 10 million viewers through essays, film, and visual storytelling across platforms.

Harjas has worked across North America, Europe, and Asia, building and advising impact-led ventures spanning climate, consumer, healthcare, fashion, and emerging technology. Over the course of her career, she has supported companies and initiatives that have collectively contributed to raising over $10M+ in venture and philanthropic capital, through fundraising strategy, go-to-market execution, partnerships, and narrative development.

She studied Human Rights and Business (M.A.) at Columbia University, where her work focused on impact funds, global supply chains, and corporate accountability. Her professional experience includes operating within and advising early-stage startups, high-growth consumer brands, venture funds, NGOs, and international institutions, often stepping into hybrid or fractional leadership roles at critical moments of scale.

Harjas has led and advised on impact strategy, human rights due diligence, and stakeholder engagement across complex global supply chains, with hands-on experience in India, Southeast Asia, Europe, Canada, and the United States. Her work centers on helping organizations grow responsibly without reducing people, culture, or place to metrics alone.

She is a recipient of the Princess Diana Award and previously served as the Youngest Advisor representing Canada at the United Nations, where she worked on youth engagement, human rights, and international development initiatives. Harjas has spoken on global stages including the UN General Assembly, Cannes Lions, Climate Week NYC, and Harvard University, bringing the intersection of climate, culture, and storytelling to diverse audiences.

Alongside her advisory work, Harjas is a writer and filmmaker whose storytelling explores themes of memory, land, displacement, craft, and climate justice, grounded in deep fieldwork and lived experience. Through Understory and her independent practice, she uses narrative as a strategic tool to build trust, mobilize communities, and make complex systems legible.

In addition to her own ventures, Harjas advises startups, founders, and businesses on:

  • Go-to-market and growth strategy

  • Brand positioning and narrative development

  • Fundraising strategy and investor storytelling

  • Impact, sustainability, and human rights frameworks

She splits her time between New York, London, Toronto, and India, and continues to build, advise, and document work rooted in the belief that the future must be not only innovative, but accountable, cultural, and human.

Her work has been featured by Business Insider, CBC, CTV, Women of Influence Global, HomeGrown In, Indian Express and more. She was also selected as a Diane von Furstenberg (DVF) “Women in Charge” Mentee, featured in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and WWD, and her work for an impact fund received the Marie Claire Sustainability Award.